"Important to continue the extension of collective agreements"

When the Collective Bargaining Board considered a partial extension to the collective agreement covering the fisheries industry earlier this year, employers’ organisations were also positive – with one exception. 

The Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) argued that the extension of collective agreements sometimes can be the proper tool, but that the decision to use it must be seen in relation to existing documentation. 

The Norwegian Seafood Federation is one of NHO’s member organisations, representing around 770 member companies with 16,000 employees in the Norwegian fisheries industry. The Seafood Federation supported an extension of the collective agreement because “there is an obvious risk for lower wages and more room for unscrupulous players in parts of the sector if the collective agreement is not extended.”

The only employers’ organisation expressing doubts, was Spekter, Norway’s third-largest employers’ organisation. 

“The extension of collective agreements represents a serious interference from the authorities and must therefore only be used in cases where it has been clearly documented that wages and working conditions are considerably lower than what can be considered socially acceptable in Norway. If the Collective Bargaining Board still chooses to extend collective agreements, Spekter will declare its scepticism to any extension of issues other than minimum wage decisions.”

Most of Spekter’s member organisations are from the public or municipal sector.